Feasibility of ecological momentary assessment in monitoring sexual be haviors among college students

Objective To evaluate the feasibility of ecological momentary assessment (EMA) in monitoring sexual behaviors among college students.Methods Based on the principle of information saturation,the in-depth interviews were conducted via purposive sampling and snowball sampling among college students who have had sex.Willingness,concerns and suggestions of EMA participation were analyzed.The experience sampling method was used as a tool to support self-monitoring.Results Twenty college students participated the interview,of whom 17 (85%) agreed and 15 students attended the EMA feasibility pilot study.During the 31-day trial,465 times instructions were released,438 onhne questionnaires were obtained,and the average response rate was 94.19%.The average feedback rate of empirical sampling method was 80.43% and the average timeout rate was 14.97%.The selfmonitoring rate of sexual behavior was 51.97%.About 8.45% of participants pre-filled the questionnaire.The average time for completing questionnaire was 1.33 minutes (empirical sampling method) / 4.67 minutes (self-monitoring method).Conclusion EMA shows low drop-out rate,high feedback rate and less timeout.It is feasible among college students to collect information on sexual behaviors in terms of establishing trust among participants.